Could free public buses work in the UAE?

Faster and more connected service could be better goal, say experts

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority is investing in the public bus network. Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Should public buses be free? Cities and countries across the world have experimented with such schemes for years.

The latest advocate is New York's newly-elected mayor Zohran Mamdani, who pledged faster and free buses in the city as part of his campaign.

It could cost $700 million a year, but even transit experts who advocate more bus use say that funding free services, especially in major cities such as New York, remains the big hurdle.

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Free schemes could increase passenger numbers and increase access for people on lower incomes, but they could also put financial pressure on systems and lead to overcrowding. The funding has to come from somewhere.

A better approach instead might be using fares to improve public transport, making it faster to tempt people away from driving and bolstering connectivity between different modes, some experts say.

Mohamed bin Zayed City Bus Station in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

Have free buses improved cities?

“Making public transport free sounds like an easy way to attract more passengers,” said Martin Tillman, Dubai-based transport expert and founder of TMP Consult.

“But experience from other cities shows that the results can be unintended and sometimes counterproductive.”

Mr Tillman cited Tallinn in Estonia, where buses and trams were made free for residents in 2013. Public transport use increased, he said, especially among lower-income and elderly groups but car use did not significantly reduce.

“Instead, it led to a major shift from walking and cycling to public transport.”

An alternative example is Dunkirk in France, a town of about 200,000 people, where free public transport was introduced in 2018. However, said Mr Tillman, this was combined with major service upgrades such as higher frequency, improved reliability and visible investment in stations and stops.

“The EU Urban Mobility Observatory noted that passenger numbers rose sharply and that the policy significantly contributed to reducing private car use,” he said.

In the UAE affordable fuel, a high reliance on the roads and limited – although improving – public transport connectivity bring their own challenges.

Thomas Edelmann, founder of RoadSafetyUAE, said research from his organisation showed that 92 per cent of people in the UAE are dependent on road transport every day.

“I think what really needs to be done is very quickly to focus on rail-bound forms of mass transportation,” he said.

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What is being done in the UAE?

The population of the Emirates is surging. With Dubai and Abu Dhabi now past the four million mark, authorities are investing huge sums in public transport.

The RTA is adding bus routes and revamping stations, while the multi-billion-dollar Dubai Metro Blue Line will connect major new neighbourhoods such as Mirdif and International City when it opens in 2029.

Statistics from Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority show the share of journeys using public transport and shared mobility has increased from six per cent in 2006 to 21.6 per cent in 2024.

Abu Dhabi is planning a new tram, while the UAE-wide Etihad Rail passenger service is to start operations in 2026. Other emirates have similar plans, and inter-emirate buses are also being launched, such as the service connecting Al Quoz in Dubai to Mohamed bin Zayed City in Abu Dhabi that started in September.

Then there is the question of fares. Travelling in Dubai within one zone using a Nol card, which allows passengers to use different modes of transport such as buses, Metro and trams, costs Dh3. In Abu Dhabi there is a Dh2 boarding fee for buses and then five fils per kilometre, capped at Dh5. Taking the bus in New York currently costs $2.90 (Dh10.65) per ride for adults.

Mr Edelmann said while free buses in the UAE may attract more passengers, he is not convinced “price point was really an issue”.

“I think it's more about convenience and it's more about connectivity,” he said.

Mr Tillman also said that since fares are relatively affordable, free buses are unlikely to be the right answer in the UAE. Bigger challenges are faster journey times, first and last mile connections and tackling the high use of private cars.

Etihad Rail, for example, has said first and last-mile integration around stations is crucial. It has struck a number of deals such as with taxi company Yango Group, to support passenger pick-up and drop-off points, streamline vehicle entry and exit procedures, and help to reduce congestion.

“For UAE cities, investment in faster, more frequent and better-connected services will likely have a greater impact on ridership than removing fares entirely, and the UAE is already making significant strides with the upcoming Etihad Rail passenger services and proposed new metro lines,” said Mr Tillman.

Other places have experimented with free buses or public transport, including Montpellier in France, Luxembourg and Malta. However, authorities in Kansas City, in the US, plan to begin reintroducing fares next year as they were unable to replace the lost funding.

“[These schemes] increase ridership but the lost fare revenue needs to be paid for,” said Jarrett Walker, an international public transport planning consultant and author of the book Human Transit.

“Most cities prefer to invest in service than in free fares because that's the path to higher ridership overall.”

Expanding rail links and connecting modes of transport are crucial to encourage use of public transport, experts say. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Are multi-modal systems better?

Mr Walker said there were “zero big cities with free fares”. Some rural, small city and university town networks in the US are free, but Mr Walker said this was either because the passenger numbers are too low to cover the security and technology costs needed for fare collection, or passengers are mostly students and the university pays for them.

He also said that making buses free but not the metro, such as the plan in New York, was misguided.

“That's wasteful of their time and also wasteful of bus resources. In an ideal system, everyone whose trip is served by the metro should take the metro.”

Instead, Mr Walker said more effort should go into building a better multi-modal system, “especially the bus layer, which is underinvested in most cities due to elite prejudices against buses”.

Paulo Anciaes, principal researcher in transport and health at the University College London Centre for Transport Studies, said free buses or transport were no longer a “radical urban experiment” but the fact that they were attempted by smaller places suggests funding remains a challenge.

He said benefits can include increasing passenger numbers and greater social inclusion. However, there are also issues such as the potential for overcrowding that would require investment in more buses.

Mr Anciaes said the high reliance on cars in the UAE means free buses may not encourage people to shift.

“Cost is not the only thing that counts when people make travel decisions,” he said. “The convenience and flexibility of using a car is also important.”